RIC's gearbox penalty cost him, to finish P9 from P24 is a bloody good drive.

I agree, it was a very good drive. But STR/RBR is a special case, just getting good results and showing promise isn't enough. Ricciardo (and Vergne) have one job at STR. Beat the other one and make yourself look worthy enough for the big boy seat.

He's doing all the hard work but then giving away easy points to Vergne every time. I hope I'm wrong though.

Started 21st, caught up with Vergne when he was battling Senna, passed him as well, he was nearly 9 seconds ahead of Vergne before he made that error or maybe something wrong with the car and then Vergne inherited that 8th place.

Enough proof?

He was 9 seconds in front because they pitted Vergne super late, before the 2nd wave of pits Vergne was 3 seconds behind.

great race for both drivers
really good start for Ricciardo, he really improved there

I think JEV had a too early first pit stop. He had soft tyre and stopped before Ricciado who was on Super-soft. That's where Ricciardo got few places and got out in front of Schumacher and di Resta.
After both stop, JEV made awful outlap, I think I saw 2'04 and 2'02 where most of other drivers did 2'00

They both showed really nice pace all race. Maybe a better note for Vergne, had to make many overtakes and great defence on Hamilton. But Ricciado started 21st... so draw?

The cars race pace is most likely down to the high top speeds on this track - they were just as competitive last year.

It was a good opportunity to watch the two of them race. It has to be said that Vergne was running a very odd line, loads of track to spare. Ricciardo seems to have matured into a good driver, confident at the wheel.

I think nothing spectacular. Just McLaren had struggles and some bad luck in Korea, Williams had a serious problem with the car confirmed by Gillan, Sauber struggled in Korea as they struggle on some kind of circuits this year and Mecedes have no pace recently.

They could have finished as well something like 13th and 14th but many teams underperformed here. But still good job from both drivers here.

really dissapointed for Dan to lose his lead and best finish in F1 because of car problem, especially after last corner in monza! On the plus side it was a hell of a lot of fun watching both these guys today, particularly jev keeping hammy at bay for so long.

I really don't see Dan in danger of losing his set - or Vergne either - for next season. They will be there in 2013...

yup, da Costa needs a full year in wsr, and there is no one else in the line, so that means they would probably still get the seat even if STR&RB young driver academy weren't impressed enough (and there are no signs that they aren't impressed, so...)

yup, da Costa needs a full year in wsr, and there is no one else in the line, so that means they would probably still get the seat even if STR&RB young driver academy weren't impressed enough (and there are no signs that they aren't impressed, so...)

Yep - if Marko wasn't happy with either driver you'd be hearing about it one way or another...

Vergne really is a pretty intense character and racer though isn't he? I've seen plenty of interviews and pieces on each and you rarely see him joking around or talking about anything other than F1.

Yeah, you're right. I think they like and respect each other, but JEV is either completely focused and doesn't allow himself to joke around, or it's simply his character.

I've met him on several occasions, including this weekend, and he's nice to talk to, smiles now and then, but that's it. On Thursday, when I told Daniel I came all the way from Australia to see him, we had a little chat for several minutes.

Something that would never happen with JEV. Anyway, the important thing is the racing

Riccardio reminds me very much of Jarno Trulli in qualifying, super smooth and usually delivers. If he can really apply himself to drive at that level he's been driving recently in the races and keep improving I cant see any reason why we wont see him in the RBR in '14 when Webbo retires.

Daniel Ricciardo (15th, Q2 - 1m 26.777s)
“That was quite a good session for me and I was pretty happy with my laps, even if my last run in Q2 was a bit scrappy, but generally I pushed hard to get the time out of the car. I had hoped to get a bit closer to Q3, but looking at our pace this morning, we did make a small step forward for qualifying. The nature of this circuit means you have to be aggressive with it. We are looking alright for tomorrow as my lap time on used Options seems quite respectable.”

RIC quicker on the hards by 4 tenths put the pressure on JEV, then he overdrove.

JEV not a good qualifier it would seem, this is a track he knows well, so no excuses. Ricciardo is improving in the races, to the point he is usually beating JEV, but JEV not showing signs of fixing up his quali woes.

Dan really showing some promise,with a James Key designed car next year both boys will do alot better.Give Vergne some time,this year has been a big learning curve for him and he has done well imo,showing blistering pace in the races.

Dan looks like the complete package where as Vergne is rough around the edges but has that freakish quality.

I don't think Ricciardo did much wrong there? Just SV being his petulant self.

Good drive from Dan, looked like JEV had him when he got that free pitstop under the first SC, but then Daniel got one too at the second SC and Daniel had a better last stint, overtaking JEV, then keeping MSC at bay.

Interesting pattern emerging where JEV is a better at the start of races, but RIC's pace is stronger at the end. Probably tyre wear related. It helped that Dan got his second set of softs a few laps later.

some strange slow laps from vergne in the last stint just as di resta and dan took him, maybe had a problem but seemed to pick up speed again a few laqps later. If that 2nd SC didn't happen he would have looked quite good for a result I think.